Yesterday morning I resumed playing PES2012 after my rest-break, a day or two earlier than planned. I couldn’t keep away from Master League. So many stories unfinished, so much territory unexplored.
Poor old FIFA12. Today’s post was supposed to be all about the other game, but it’s just not going to happen—not today, and maybe not ever.
I love the feel of FIFA12′s general play, particularly its semi-assisted passing model, which PES surely has to copy/borrow/steal for the future. I like what I’ve seen of FIFA’s Career Mode this year.
I don’t necessarily agree with the view that FIFA still lacks ‘something’. That might be true, but perhaps all it lacks for me, really, is time. It takes a solid chunk of hours to get into a good football game and discover its depths, as so many have discovered with PES2012 this year.
So FIFA12 has gone back in its box, with real regret. I just cannot afford to dilute something—time—that is already so scarce. PES2012 is my football game. I can only play one.
Overall, it is great to be back. PES2012 feels fresh and exciting again. Superstar difficulty can wear you down after a while. I’m going to have regular breaks of a few days at the end of every season from now on. Also mid-season, for a day at least.
After winning the Double in season 15, my club ranking rose only a bit, from 18 to 11. That’s the ranking I had two seasons ago. I’m disappointed it’s not higher. I suppose the game really does count success in Europe as paramount. That’s OK. It just so happens that success in Europe is one of my primary goals for season 16.
I found myself declining the largest transfer offer I have ever had for a player. I’ve heard about bids this large, but never thought I’d see one in my oddly straitlaced ML world:
If I didn’t already have £250m in the bank, I’d have actually been tempted. Every player has his price. I’d say £101m was Agostini’s.
He wasn’t unhappy about staying. This club is going places.
I didn’t buy a single player myself in the off-season. Not one. Don’t need anyone.
I changed both my Home and Away kits for the first time in a few seasons. The new Home kit is a checkered shirt with the old City Link sponsor logo. I almost went with no sponsor at all, but a football shirt nowadays looks bare without one. I’ll post a pic of my new (mostly red) Away kit on Wednesday.
And so the action got underway. I racked up a few early wins, among them against newly promoted Burnley, at home, where the scoring got underway with a classic 30-yard free kick from John Barnes.
I love it when the keeper just gets a hand to the ball:
I won that match 4-0, one of a few good solid wins. It’s good to start well in the League.
Only Man Utd took any points off me, and that was a creditable 1-1 draw which stands me in good stead for our personal head-to-head battle as the season winds on. Or so I thought until I glanced at the table:
That’s them down in 16th. Talk about a bad start for a big team.
In Europe I was drawn in a Champions League group with Inter Milan, who were my first opponents. I was at home, flying in the league, and totally onfident.
Inter turned up with Cantona and Klinsmann up front, and Jairzinho just behind them. This is just one of the unavoidable side-effects of having Classics in an ML world.
Inter were irresistible, but it looked as if I would hold on for a 0-0—a result I’d have taken gladly, the way the match was going. Then Klinsmann did a CPU super-dribble through my entire defence in the 89th minute, and slotted home. Ouch.
A cruel defeat, but it’s only game 1, and a long way to go. The Treble, of course, is the main priority from now on.
I haven’t touched PES in months now, I am a total FIFA convert. I won’t be buying the new PES when it comes out, i will be buying FIFA, which ends a decade and more of PES gaming. FIFA has immersed me more than a PES has for a long time and the more i play it, the more i look at PES and think i’ve finally woke up and smelt the coffee when it comes to football gaming.
Batesy – what sets FIFA apart from PES for you?
Interested to hear your thoughts?
Max – it has crossed my mind mate!!
I have invested 16 seasons – around 900 games at an average of 45 games a season inc. league/cup/european games plus time training, editing etc, so if possible Id like to achieve Something on this ML before i restart.
Although now with the new PS3 FW update its possible to install a new OF within seconds, I have downloaded the GTM World OF v 1.6, may well install that on my second PSN account and start with a proper team, couldnt go through the defaults all over again.
NG/Max – I have started pinging in some long shots at last, as my player stats have improved sufficiently to actually score. It’s hugely disappointing viewing the replays of what you think are top corner screamers only to find they’ve simply evaded the keeper’s dive into the slightly off centre of the net. No-one has yet picked up Irjescu since I let his contract lapse. How do you compensate for his terrible response/speed when the AI is going all out? Also how did you send those corners so far away – did you pick out the man with R3 or just aim a pass in his direction?
for corners, i pick out players on the edge of the box or in space just outside the box by aiming the corner taker appropriately, then powering the bar to full, whilst holding down on the LS, keep holding the LS down until the ball has been kicked.
This sends a fast paced grounded pass to the chosen player – great for hitting first time.
Best 11
GK – Rodriguez
RB – De Kaam
CB – Chigrat
CB – Kmou
LB – Calleja
DMF – Heycory
LMF – Barnes
RMF – Virota
AMF – Riquelme
CF – Careca
CF – Metelger
This also is my current team.
Special mention to Clint Dempsey for scoring 22 goals in half a season and getting me promoted.
Still one point off top spot after 20 games, not buying anyone this window. Careca scored a hatrick in both his last games, he’s 35 and I’ve decided to keep him until his legs fall off.
uncle turf—they say to have your best FK taker on corner duty—which means Barnes for me, and he can reach those players up near the centre circle no problem. When Barnes isn’t on the field and another player takes a corner, they struggle to find the edge of the box.
Pjinatnigh would be a great catch. He’s very much a second-stage ML signing, one to bridge the gap between your Defaults and your future dream-team.
Max—that’s all Paul needs right now, a few sessions playing Shoot The Goalie with Hamsun & co.!
Paul—re. the new PS3 FW update, did you find it taking a looong time for your PS3 to delete old Option Files? Mine took about 10 minutes to delete my PES2011 stuff, which I wasn’t expecting.
Batesy8—I’m pleased to hear that FIFA12 has kept you going all these months. As I say in this post, for me the PES-FIFA thing is now a question of time, not quality. And Master League is mother’s milk for me, which goes a heck of a long way to make up for shortcomings in game quality.
But yes, I’d be interested in hearing some details as well—what settings do you play on, what sliders etc.? Just a rough guide. I would like to have a week or so on FIFA12 before PES2013 lands.
Lloyd—I thought you had Sibon and that he’s a total beast? Or is it too early for him to make the Best XI grade yet?
Is your Barnes the Classic Barnes? He’s pretty decent isn’t he. Consistent too.
Just uploaded my Heycory screamer.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=08F1BQ7-KTg&feature=plcp
NG – havent attempted to delete any files yet as the only files i have on the PS3 are the ones im currently using within my game.
I painstakingly deleted all 350+ Pes 2011 files individually before when PES12 was released, i hate clutter!
I’ll report back when i do perform a mass deletion though.
Too early indeed NG, if he keeps up his level of performance it wont be long though. Yes it is classic Barnes, he and Careca are the only 2 players over 25 in my squad now.
NG- i did say with PES United as they have some decent players
I think down in D2 and without seasons of development the AI is a little more forgiving then after 10 season’s + when every top side fields a team of 90+players. I personally play various saves through out the year as once i have got my squad to a certain point i can’t bring myself to sell on my players. I try and never buy the same player twice although there have been a few exceptions. i don’t know what it is but i enjoy playing with the lesser players/teams and taking them to the top, but staying at the top kind of bores me after a while. For me its all about the first few trophies with each team i “manage” then move on to the next. If you could change teams during ML i’d never start more then one save.
Uncle turf-good to hear, will we being seeing any vids anytime soon? still waiting the the cinalton effort! Irjescu is in my team for one thing and one things only, long distance shooting. His dribbiling and passing isn’t great but he is strong while defending and always seems to pop up in the right place for me. There is something really satisfying about the way he thumps the ball that i have yet to encounter with any other player. He gets me 10 goals a season with a lot of those being last minute winners from 30+meters which is always nice.
I use R3 on all set pieces even goal kicks. For my corner routine i make sure its an out swinger so like in my vids left footed from the left. I select my best shooting player with R3, the last one was my Rooney clone, and position them about 40 yards out almost in line with the edge of the area. Press O and make sure i don’t run towards the ball until it has bounced and then do a knuckleball shot. Depending on how how you time the run and the angle of the shot the player will perform different types of volleys.
Paul- It wouldn’t mean the end to your current save maybe just play a season or 3 on another and come back to it later to finish what you started.
After i won the league on SS, season 10 i think, i just put it on hold. Most of my squad i’d had for 5+seasons and there was no room for improvement so begain to get a little stale. When i finish with my current save i’ll go back and try for the triple.
Lloyd- lovely goal there, i bet that flew in like a rocket! Knucklball shot if i’m not mistaken.
Just booted up my ps3 and it crashed while loading PES… Everything seems to be ok but I’m going to back up my ML saves, it’s just the files marked footballl life 01,02,03 ect I need to copy right?
Max – yes it was a knuckleball, got a few more heycory goals saved just need to video with my phone will hopefully try tonight. Want to do a compilation of my goals which editing tool would anyone recommend, is there anything on windows which would do the job?
Max—The most important ones are near the top of the list with your most recent playing date and time on, grab your Edit data as well if you can. Sounds like a random crash rather than your system going kaput—?
Treat this as a timely warning—we should be backing up ML saves at least once a week (preferably after ever session). There’s far too much time and effort invested in them.
Paul—we’ve probably all seen how long it takes a PS3 to copy a 7MB ML save to a USB stick—blinkin’ ages, compared to the second or two on a computer—so it’s no surprise that PS3s also take ages to carry out other file maintenance actions.
Lloyd—lovely Heycory goal, loved the curl on the shot. And a left-footer too. Nice. My ML world’s Heycory is a Regen and I won’t be going near him for a few seasons. Learned my lesson there with all the big-name Regen youths I got 2-3 seasons ago who I still can’t use yet.
You could try Windows Movie Maker for your movie—but beware, it’s very crashy. Save often as you go along. Otherwise, Camtasia Studio is a good alternative and has a free trial.
damn, TV has broken so I can’t continue my quest for a first ML win on Superstar tonight. Does anyone have a 3D TV and/or a strong opinion on whether they are worthwhile for gaming? I am strongly tempted given how much I love the Nintendo 3DS
I guess I don’t have enough practice at corners as I find it hard not to try the Ribeiro R3 run and head. Despite me rotating my front players the big lump is 6 goals clear at the top of the league scoring charts – every single one a header. It is some consolation to know that within my PS3 there is a forum run by NotAI where all the AI teams whinge like F*ck about my scripted Ribeiro…
abbeyhill—it seems you’re the 1 person in 10,000 for whom glassesless 3D works well for long periods without any bad effects. Watch out that Nintendo don’t kidnap you and hold you as a trophy prisoner on their secret island in the Pacific. PES2012 has a 3D mode as you’ve seen, but it’s a BaL-type camera, not sure if the Wide view would be 3D or if it could be forced. I’m not into 3D at all so I haven’t kept up to speed with the tech.
uncle turf—I sometimes think you’re embarrassed about your Ribeiro thang… How conceivable would an ML without Ribeiro be for you? (1 being totally conceivable and 10 totally inconceivable.) I’d bet on a 4 from your recent comments.
For me, the idea of this PES2012 ML career without the Classics and other Big Names I’ve had and continue to enjoy: a 9, on the above scale. PES2012 is pretty much inconceivable without one’s preferred players and the style of play they enable.
NG – I would love to swap Ribeiro for a fast, power shot striker (loving Gary Hooper in Div 2 – apart from the commentary insisting on using his full name – why does it do that for some players??) but he is the go to man if you are a goal down and get a corner, space for cross and now I’ve worked on a long free kick routine where he stands in front of the keeper – causes chaos and usually I get a knock down. As we know how hard it is if they get the first goal I can’t make a special team sub really early so start him and bring him off at 60 mins if I am 2 up.
So it’s January in my season 3 and I am 2nd in the league – I’ve had a tremendous run, managing to scrap for draws in shocking AI matches, but it is really tight this year – 3 points covering the top 8. I hoped I would get a few good youths – £1m investment, 500k 5 star potential coach – nothing! The players I didn’t sign last January are better – hugely disappointing and a complete farce for that investment (when it was 200k I got Cocio who is now 85ovr). By contrast OTHER was flooded by regens – 17 75+ youngsters. I bid on 3 (Chigrat, Farinos and Friedel) – got none after a week by which time 6 had gone. Even Pjin..went to the Div 2 team that already has Ita and Rane! I finally landed my number 1 keeper choice Houtmael but I desperately need one of De Kaam, Chigrat or Callejo to sign – I need defensive and left side talent. Don’t know anyone else’s thoughts (Max?) but youth is too random and just isn’t fair in comparison with the regens – I got no-one above 61 this time, Chigrat is 96ovr and if you can buy him costs 200k – it’s a no brainer. My best original youth Camacho is now 80ovr after 2/half seasons – still 13 points behind Farinos. None of these really top players ever seem to appear in your youth team so I can see why players winning trophies don’t bother much with it.
What a difference a night makes!
As you well know ive been on a downer with PES over the last week or so.
Well yesterday I had a little look round the EvoWeb forums for the first time in ages and a guy that posts there by the name of LTFC had commented on his grumblings with the game, much the same as mine but how he had revolutionised his game with a couple of methods and has since won the Div 2 League by 20pts and scored a bucket of goals.
So i adopted Not-Gregs formation and tactics slider settings and employed LTFC’s shoot/defend tactics and I won 7 out of the 8 games I played, have shot to the top of my Europa League group and steadied myself to 6th in the Prem.
Scoring more and have conceded only 4 goals in those 8 games.
I think my PES year may have been saved.
uncle turf—yep, I’m belatedly discovering the joys of the big powerful striker in the middle to get on the end of crosses. PES2012 is a very wing-friendly PES, no question.
Jealous about the sound of your Camacho there. 80OVR! Bloomin’ favouritism…
Paul—not conceding goals is the key to PES2012 success and happiness. You can score 2 or 3 goals yourself, but if you let in 2 or 3 (or 4), the rageometer is only ever going to go up. I’ve read those posts on EvoWeb as well and tried some of that L2 shooting, and it does seem to me that the player’s body opens up more (in one-on-ones in particular). I keep forgetting to try it though and just use my usual scoring methods, so it’s not a scientific survey.
uncle turf – try all you can to get callejo he is awesome, now aged 22 in my save and 96ovr LB and 101ovr LMF. He is giving Barnes a run for his money.
uncle turf- tough luck there, do you still have the 40k scout? if so make sure its the one with 2 bars for signing young talent and not verterens. I haven’t had much luck in the CB department latly although i did pick up a 16 year old Gaspar/Gasper CB on a free in the early seasons who is coming along nicely. Check out Ben Basat CF realy cheap 80k but 85+dribble speed, top speed, body balence and shot power+shot acc. Early cheap left backs of the top of my head are SANKHARÉ, anita, Durate and LEERDAM is really good. Not a left back but one of my best early signings ever was GÖKAY IRAVUL, starts the game as 73ovr and 10 seasons later he was still improving. To be honest until i get promoted i normaly only sign free transfers. My routine is on Feb 1st go to advanced search and select free agents and the position i need then chose one from the list. If you bid at this time of year you will never get any competition from the other teams and theres a lot of time to renegotiate there wages right down. In my current save i picked up 74ovr Taylor LB from swansey- 3 seasons later up to 84ovr!
After sorting out my PS3 and backing up all my saves i only played 3 games last night 2 more wins on my winning streak of 11 that was ended in style 4-2 by BOTTOM of the league team. I could feel it coming i have no idea how i managed to win the previous 2 games if i’m honest, this time it was me scoring the deflected goals and intercepting a pass the the keeper, but i’ll take it!
I did a little bit of buisness this january for the first time in a couple of seasons and i broke my house rule of not buying players… Roberto Carlos regen at 77ovr i just couldn’t help myself. I had copy pasted him into my master league world and in other saves even signed him as a 36year old but he would never bloody retire! This time he is mine.
I brought up a couple of promesing 70ovr youths that i will prob loan and sell on and no star youth this season as i signed Robert Carlos. My Camacho is 89ovr now a beast and even has 82 shot power my highest rated player. I have also secured on frees Albrighton of Villa to play as a RB and back up CF,SS Irlomonka with that speacial curling shot card. All i need is some CB’s and a GK and this team will be ready for the big time.
Lloyd—if he’s giving your Barnes a run for his money, and your Barnes is as good as mine is, he must be some player.
Max—good to hear your PS3 is fine—be sure to back up your saves regularly. Once a week is better than nothing. This is my hobbyhorse. Digital storage is inherently fragile and we’re probably fortunate to get the lifespan out of it that we do. Have a backup, and a backup for your backup!
Albrighton is an interesting signing. There was a period in this ML when he was one of the most feared players to play against for Villa. Will him being a great CPU player translate into him being a good player player, though? That is the question.
NG – the defending more than the shooting is what has changed the game for me.
Since employing the multiple taps of X when close by to tackle, I have only felt once instance of super-powered dribbling in all those 8 games, I can live with one cheated goal every 8 games.
The game feels more even now and even going into games vs the big teams, I feel coinfident of not only scoring but defending well too.
NG- Barnes is 31 and 101ovr in my game, i see he is 107ovr in yours. Dont think i had him early enough to hit those heights.
Ng-yes i Have high hopes for him as i Have been close to signing him in past saves where he was 98ovr!?! He will only be playing at RB though I love playing WF and SMF as SB’s. My current RB Guegan signed from the youths season 1 has deleloped from 50-something to 80ovr and I have grown quite fond of him but sadly he has starter to decline rapidly aged 22.
Lloyd- Barnes is a late bloomer he should keep improving to about 36 years old
Paul- Have you tried just running into the AI? its important not to be holding sprint when doing so. I am having quite a bit of success in the middle of the pitch and on the wings deffending only using the left stick. If you can get close enough without sprinting and turn the way the AI turns your player auto tackles him and keeps the ball under control. This however is impossible if the AI is pinging it around like crazy or if they are playing very direct, works best against possesion teams.
Paul—I also endorse Max’s tip to just run into the CPU players if you can get close enough. It’s a last-resort approach for me, because if it fails the CPU player is past you.
Lloyd—I can’t remember now how old Barnes was when he arrived—I think he was 26. Most of the Classics appeared at age 29 and 23, he was one of the in-betweeners.
Max—best up-and-down the wing SB I ever had in PES, after Roberto Carlos in PES5 of course, was Zoro in PES6. Time and again in PES2012 the ball squirts loose to one or other of my SBs storming in from the wing, and I always think ‘Zoro would have lumped this one into the net’, only they can’t in PES2012…
NG- (closes eyes) having visions of Antonio Banderas scoring a screamer from 30yards.
The only thing FIFA12 lacks, IMHO, is a tactical system as simple and deep as PES’.
I really like everything about FIFA112, except its tactical/strategy/formation/etc system. And that is enough, at least for me, for not playing it.
Just my 2 cents.
Regards,
Claudio
Claudio—FIFA12′s formation screen is awkward and clunky to me, and you have to switch between sections (team selection and formation options are separate!), and then dig down too far to get at the juice of player positioning and runs etc. EA are noted for the user-friendly menus, so this is a surprise it’s not been fixed yet. Maybe they don’t want to copy PES’s all-in-one formation screen, but they should.
Thats it, not-Greg. I agree totally.
By the way, what are your opinions on Winning Eleven Pro Evo Soccer 2007′s (PES 6?) Master League? I wish to dedicate my time to a ML, choosing between PES 5 and that one.
I really think PES 12 is a great multiplayer game, but I get too angry with its singleplayer
What pisses me off is the way the opponent AI scores… the goals are not satisfying to receive (?), as they are in PES 5 or 6…
Best rRegards,
Claudio
Claudio—I respect the adoration that so many PES veterans have for PES6(on PS2/PC—the 360 version was different, and better), but alas, I didn’t share it at the time. I thought the gameplay was weaker than PES5′s and it was only a five-season ML for me in PES6 that year. Not happy with it at all.